1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to electronic percussion instruments, and more particularly to a novel transducer for use therein.
2. Background Information
Electronic percussion instruments are a class of musical instruments which are designed to be played like traditional acoustic percussion instruments but offer an unlimited spectrum of sounds, ranging from the emulation of real acoustic instruments to heavily synthesized abstract sounds and noises. Electronic percussion instruments are comprised of a striking surface that the user strikes with their hand, foot or other implement such as a stick or mallet, a means to sense the strike and transfer it from acoustic energy into an electrical pulse (a transducer), and downstream electronics (a sound module) which is responsible for analyzing the electronic pulse and playing a sound which is representative of the characteristics of the strike (for example, amplitude, velocity, position, timing and others).
The striking surface could be made from almost any material and most electronic percussion manufacturers try to simulate the look and feel of acoustic instruments to allow the user to use traditional and existing playing skills. This is analogous to how electronic synthesizer keyboards try to emulate the look, feel, and playability of an acoustic piano. Both the synthesizer keyboard and traditional acoustic piano have the same key layout and can be played using similar skills, but are designed to produce musical sounds differently. The ultimate design for a musician trained as a piano player is to have the look, feel, and playability of a traditional acoustic piano with the versatility, expandability, and conveniences of the electronic synthesized keyboard instrument. Likewise, it would be an advantage for a traditionally trained percussionist who desires to utilize the advantages of electronic percussion instruments, to be able to retain the familiar look, feel, and playability of traditional acoustic percussion instruments.
The current state of the art in electronic percussion triggers utilizes inexpensive flat disc shaped piezo transducers which are mounted somewhere on the striking surface or connected components. There are several disadvantages to this approach.
Problems associated with current percussion transducers include:                The use of a flat disc shaped transducer prohibits central mounting on the same axis as the striking surface.        Flat transducers attached directly to the striking surface at locations other than the center cause the striking surface to become unbalanced.        Unbalanced striking surfaces require additional mechanisms to prevent the striking surface from unintentionally rotating and tipping over.        It is difficult to use conventional cymbals for striking surfaces as the piezo transducers can't be reliably attached to the striking surface and the conventional cymbal's motion and playability are compromised.        Poor positional sensing because the piezo transducer is not centrally located.        As the striking surface swings after impact, the electrical connection to the piezo transducer, its connections, or the striking surface may be broken due to the changing distances caused by the swinging motion.        
Note that, while the ideal mounting location is referred to as the “center”, the term is not used in a precise geometric sense, but rather refers to a location sufficiently close to the geometric “center” or center axis to accomplish the purposes of the invention. The term “center axis” refers to an axis perpendicular to the striking surface of an instrument (whether represented by a physical structure or only a point) and roughly equidistant from symmetric points on the edge of said striking surface.